Interested to hear how this works for you, Dan. My 530 has been strange... one ride it may go through an alarming amount of oil; like half the site glass in 40 miles. Then I can ride it 4 or 5 other days, hundreds of miles, and it uses nothing. Totally random; can't figure it out. I carry a little oil with me, just in case.

How about ice?? We went out yesterday for a few hours, and today, just the two of us rode in the freezing rain. The 350 EXC is very quick on ice, and is a little easier to ride, but the romp of a 530 can't be beat. The 530 with the BD headlight has a rather fecked rear tire, and is squirly, but is fun to hang out at 110 km/h. Good times, I'm whipped.

How about ice?? We went out yesterday for a few hours, and today, just the two of us rode in the freezing rain. The 350 EXC is very quick on ice, and is a little easier to ride, but the romp of a 530 can't be beat. The 530 with the BD headlight has a rather fecked rear tire, and is squirly, but is fun to hang out at 110 km/h. Good times, I'm whipped.

Nice shots,very scenic riding you've got out there.
I got in 80 miles of singletrack last weekend in nor cal,the snow has melted off and riding is great! We had 18 guys show up for sunday's ride,split up into 3 groups. One gentleman of a certain age (70) went for a swim in one of the deeper water crossings,only his helmet and handlebars were sticking out of the water for a moment.
Not the thing to do in November really.
I was on my 300 and had an absolute blast racing nose to tail through the woods sat and sunday with a friend on a 530. Got away with only one minor tip over.

How about ice?? We went out yesterday for a few hours, and today, just the two of us rode in the freezing rain. The 350 EXC is very quick on ice, and is a little easier to ride, but the romp of a 530 can't be beat. The 530 with the BD headlight has a rather fecked rear tire, and is squirly, but is fun to hang out at 110 km/h. Good times, I'm whipped.

Nice shots,very scenic riding you've got out there.
I got in 80 miles of singletrack last weekend in nor cal,the snow has melted off and riding is great! We had 18 guys show up for sunday's ride,split up into 3 groups. One gentleman of a certain age (70) went for a swim in one of the deeper water crossings,only his helmet and handlebars were sticking out of the water for a moment.
Not the thing to do in November really.
I was on my 300 and had an absolute blast racing nose to tail through the woods sat and sunday with a friend on a 530. Got away with only one minor tip over.

Just wanted to drop a note and say thanks to everyone that posted in this thread. I've absorbed it all (or like to think I have) and now I get the chance to put it all together. I picked up a 2010 530 XC-W with a street title and will be using the downtime this winter to make a few mods to the bike. The pointers in this thread will go to very good use.

Interested to hear how this works for you, Dan. My 530 has been strange... one ride it may go through an alarming amount of oil; like half the site glass in 40 miles. Then I can ride it 4 or 5 other days, hundreds of miles, and it uses nothing. Totally random; can't figure it out. I carry a little oil with me, just in case.

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Are you getting into the throttle on one ride and not on the other?
My 530 never pushed any oil when I had it. Then when Tha Ric bought it it pushed oil for him. He defiantly revved the motor higher than I did. I always had a higher gear to shift to. I singled tracked the bike. Never dual sported it.

Are you getting into the throttle on one ride and not on the other?
My 530 never pushed any oil when I had it. Then when Tha Ric bought it it pushed oil for him. He defiantly revved the motor higher than I did. I always had a higher gear to shift to. I singled tracked the bike. Never dual sported it.

Click to expand...

Nope. And I would think it would burn more at high RPM, but that doesn't seem to be the case. I rode it around the Gypsum Hills in KS nearly WFO for a few hundred miles, and didn't burn a drop. Then a 40 mile putt-putt ride the next week, and it dropped halfway down the sight glass.

Mine is inconsistent as well. I can go 150 miles with no use, and then suddenly it is down. I purchased all the parts to do a top end two years ago but the usage has never got bad enough that I feel the need to tear into it. The bike now has almost 10,000 miles. I just carry one of those small slime bottles filled with oil and have a cap that seals up. I use the slime cap when I top the bike off. Has served me well for 5 day trips and the oil is so easy to add. Never uses even the whole slime bottle of oil on these trips.

Nope. And I would think it would burn more at high RPM, but that doesn't seem to be the case. I rode it around the Gypsum Hills in KS nearly WFO for a few hundred miles, and didn't burn a drop. Then a 40 mile putt-putt ride the next week, and it dropped halfway down the sight glass.

Have a question for you guys regarding the ignition wire jumper behind the headlight mask.

I was looking at the switch from Trailtech here, and the description states the stock configuration is mild. The earlier explanation I read here was that the stock configuration is wild, and removing the jumper or adding a switch is to enable the mild mode.